For the fourth-straight year, the Centennial Conference women’s soccer championship ended with Johns Hopkins University lifting the trophy. Unlike recent years, the game was against Swarthmore College’s team at Clothier Field, stinging a bit harder for the regular season champions and No. 1 tournament seed Garnet. A late strike from a Hopkins senior, Maria Romo-Nichols, in the 88th minute sealed the 2-1 loss for nationally ranked No. 13 Swarthmore this past Sunday, denying the Garnet of their first conference title in seven years despite an unbeaten conference record that is helping to convey to the nation of the program’s profile.
Swarthmore at the time of play ended 14-3-3 in the regular season and 9-0-1 in conferences. The team had gone head-to-head with Hopkins for 33 years, resulting in just four wins. The rivalry was marked by both the Garnet’s steady ascent and Hopkin’s long-held dominance. The Blue Jays, who have ended 15-4-1 this season, have now captured their fourth-straight conference trophy and their eighteenth overall Centennial Championship win by dominating possession and through lethal, quick counterattacks.
This Hopkins dominance was evident during the first half of Sunday’s game; they boasted 26 shots with fifteen on target. Swarthmore made two shots, with Garnet goalkeeper Dahlia Bedward ’26 locking down the backline with eight saves. Hopkins scored in the 23rd minute, assisted by Romo-Nichols and shot by Caroline Marcus. Swarthmore equalized not soon after in the second half, when sophomore Sydney Ross’s ’28 shot deflected to Jordan Vrees ’29, a first year with a break-out season. Vrees buried the shot to tie the game to 1-1. This score reinvigorated the Garnet for a much more even second half, buoyed by the almost 300 fans and boisterous cheering. However, with just two minutes before the 90-minute regulation whistle, Romo-Nicholas sliced through the noise, running down the right flank and making a left-footed shot placing the ball into the upper-left corner — the Hopkins recap conceded that this was her most memorable goal yet.
This last-minute heartbreak has ended one of Swarthmore’s most successful conference-play seasons since 2018, which lifted the Centennial trophy. The 2025 Garnet went unbeaten in conference play, and beat Hopkins during the regular season in an away game. A rare but successful feat, this well-deserved win helped the Garnet to secure their No. 20 NPI national rankings.
Head Coach Todd Anckaitis was interviewed by Philadelphia Soccer Now and said, “It’s emotional because the seniors know this could be their last game on Clothier Field.” He continued, “But, it’s been a tremendous season, and there’s still more to look forward to.” Anckaitis also accredited some of the team’s success to “soccer IQ”: “We want to be a team with ‘soccer IQ’ — where we can change looks, know what we’re trying to achieve, and execute.”
The Hopkins-Swarthmore rivalry has been one of the margins, near-wins, and small differences but this year’s team showed signs of reclaiming conference dominance, proving that narratives are malleable, dependent on change over time. Swarthmore’s defense has been a large part of this rewriting process, with players like Bedward, Aminah Evans ’28, and Bela Odhiambo ’29, combined with a young, energetic midfield led by Celia Kanellakos ’28. This roster points to a capable group to compete deeply in the NCAA tournament. NCAA qualification for D3 women’s soccer is based on a calculation called the NPI ranking, taking into account various factors like a team’s schedule, the strength of their schedule, and who else is in their region. This clean slate begins on Saturday at Case Western Reserve University, where the Garnet face Bridgewater College from Virginia in the first round of the tournament. This is a new chance to flip the script, to turn loss into a history-making national championship win.
